Xander Schauffele, still out with a rib injury, sets target date for return to PGA Tour
Xander Schauffele has a new target date to return to the PGA Tour: the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando, which begins March 6. Schauffele has been sidelined with a rib injury since the opening match of TGL and last played on Tour at The Sentry, the kickoff to the 2025 season in Maui.
"Taking the Genesis off gives me three weeks leading into Bay Hill," Schauffele told Golfweek on Thursday. "I want to get as many reps under the belt before the Masters. It would be nice to get the competitive blood flowing a few times before going into a really big event and also have the Players coming up."
Schauffele, 31, injured his rib cage during the off-season in what has been described as an acute intercostal strain/micro tear. Schauffele blamed the injury on overuse and played through the discomfort at The Sentry, finishing 30th. He said he underestimated how much it was bothering him.
"I need a little more TLC, especially at 31 versus 25 and make sure everything is oiled correctly," he said. "I thought I’d be fine and kept going and played through it at Sentry and at the first TGL match. I was pretty much tapped. I knew it was getting significantly worse and needed time off."
Schauffele enjoyed a banner year in 2024, winning his first two majors at the PGA Championship in May and British Open in July. The world No. 2 pulled out of The American Express last month, missed New York Golf Club’s second TGL match on Jan. 21 and withdrew from the Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego, where he grew up and at a tournament he’s been a regular at since 2016. He’s also missed signature events at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and remains sidelined for this week’s Genesis Invitational, which is being played at Torrey Pines due to the wild fires that wreaked havoc in Los Angeles and surrounding areas.
Schauffele is a nine-time Tour winner and along with his two majors, he also won Olympic Gold in 2021. In 2023, he withdrew from the second round of The Sentry with back pain but this is the first significant injury of his career. He said he was targeting to return by now but is taking a cautious approach, and was "really bummed" to miss what turned out to be two events in his hometown.
"With really thick rough, I could potentially re-injure myself," he said. "Everyone I’ve talked to said the worst thing you can do is come back to soon. Guys have told me about being hurt 6-12 weeks later. I don’t want to deal with a stop and go. Once I’m back, I just want to go. I’ve been instructed to be patient and make sure I’m 100 percent."
Schauffele said he has been hitting balls on and off. He attempted to ramp up his practice with the WM Phoenix Open or Genesis as a possible return. "My goal in my head was if I could play four 18-hole rounds in a row, I’d be ready to play in a tournament," he said. "I haven’t quite got there yet comfortably without feeling rushed. The way we did it, we started with a ball count and then a club count too. I never felt like I had enough time to jump from driver to three holes to six, nine holes."
The Tour wraps up the West Coast Swing next week at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld before heading to the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beach Gardens in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, not far from where Schauffele keeps his residence, but is trusting that patience is a virtue.
"I’m losing my mind sitting at home watching everybody compete," he said. "But I'm taking the long view. I’m looking years down the road versus me being in the mix right now."
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Xander Schauffele targets Arnold Palmer Invitational for PGA Tour return
